I'm fine with the team not spending now. I'd rather see them build from within and start to spend on FA's once they are closer to actually competing.

My position all along has been I can stomach a rebuild so long as the team fully embraces it and doesn't do the half-assed rebuilds that we saw from KW.

I think the Sox now have a punchers chance of contending for a wild card in 2013- need alot of "ifs" to come through- Ramirez, Beckham, Viciedo need to bounce back, John Danks needs to be the 2008 version and need to plug at least catcher or 3rd in the offseason.

Not likely by any stretch- but possible-

Mostly in a "Santa Claus might exist" kind of possible- but Hahn has done enough that I'll go into April/May with the irrational optimism that helped me survive 1978-1980, 1986-1989, 1994-1999, etc.

And what happens to the $25 million or so extra dollars coming from the new national TV contracts. I get that with attendance down things are tighter, but that's not the only source of revenue. For years I've defended the Sox about not being cheap, but I think the needle is starting to move in that direction.

There's nobody left to spend the money on. This FA class was pretty terrible.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by shoota

I'm not counting this homerun or his 3 RBI from today's game because of the game situation. I'm not counting his pinch hit solo homerun in a blowout win in Colorado. In my book, Crede has 2 less home runs than his statistics show, 4 less RBI, and one less walk (the one where he pinch hit for Uribe after coming in with a 3-0 count and taking one pitch).

I think the Sox now have a punchers chance of contending for a wild card in 2013- need alot of "ifs" to come through- Ramirez, Beckham, Viciedo need to bounce back, John Danks needs to be the 2008 version and need to plug at least catcher or 3rd in the offseason.

Not likely by any stretch- but possible-

Mostly in a "Santa Claus might exist" kind of possible- but Hahn has done enough that I'll go into April/May with the irrational optimism that helped me survive 1978-1980, 1986-1989, 1994-1999, etc.

Wildcard? Probably not. But the Royals and Indians will have pitching problems and, personally, I feel the Tigers have made themselves worse. So if everything goes right and wrong for them, there could be a race. It's not likely, but it's more likely than last year.

I think the Sox now have a punchers chance of contending for a wild card in 2013- need alot of "ifs" to come through- Ramirez, Beckham, Viciedo need to bounce back, John Danks needs to be the 2008 version and need to plug at least catcher or 3rd in the offseason.

Not likely by any stretch- but possible-

Mostly in a "Santa Claus might exist" kind of possible- but Hahn has done enough that I'll go into April/May with the irrational optimism that helped me survive 1978-1980, 1986-1989, 1994-1999, etc.

Nothing is more important in competing than starting pitching. The Sox will be going into the season with a guy that had a surgery that is really difficult to come back from in a meaningful way and two totally unknown quantities in the 4th and 5th slots. Those are mighty big ifs to overcome.

Wildcard? Probably not. But the Royals and Indians will have pitching problems and, personally, I feel the Tigers have made themselves worse. So if everything goes right and wrong for them, there could be a race. It's not likely, but it's more likely than last year.

If last year's awful Indians team could get to the wild card play-in game, then pretty much every team in the AL has at least a chance

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noneck

Nothing is more important in competing than starting pitching. The Sox will be going into the season with a guy that had a surgery that is really difficult to come back from in a meaningful way and two totally unknown quantities in the 4th and 5th slots. Those are mighty big ifs to overcome.

Pretty much every team has questions at the back end of their rotation

No problem with this at all. It would be disingenuous of a Sox fan to complain about the dearth of talent in the pipeline and then complain about what the Sox say they are doing.

I was curious how Hahn was going to execute on what seems to be a "re-tool on the fly" plan (as opposed to the Cubs burn-it-to-the-ground model). So far his decisions and moves seem to make a lot of sense.

No problem with this at all. It would be disingenuous of a Sox fan to complain about the dearth of talent in the pipeline and then complain about what the Sox say they are doing.

I was curious how Hahn was going to execute on what seems to be a "re-tool on the fly" plan (as opposed to the Cubs burn-it-to-the-ground model). So far his decisions and moves seem to make a lot of sense.

Too much to hope for.

__________________"I have the ultimate respect for White Sox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Red Sox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country." Jim Caple, ESPN (January 12, 2011)

"We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the (bleeding) obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." ó George Orwell

As it should be, they let a 1/3 of the American League in the playoffs now, and once your in the playoffs, pretty much anything can happen. Anyone who suggests treating an upcoming season as anything other than an opportunity to win now should be dragged out in 35th Street and shot for all of our amusement.

Agreed. No need to spend anything but on future investment in an already basically throw-in-the-towel season.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomBradley72

I'm fine with it- Hahn seems to be making very disciplined trade decisions- young, major league ready talent- while focusing on getting the farm system in shape for the long term.

Gets us away from the annual swinging from the heals roster construction of the late years of the KW era- with an empty farm system underneath.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spawn

I'm ok with this as well.

I'm in this camp as well. I like this strategy of trying to add youth to the everyday lineup. There's no need to overspend on veteran mediocrity given where the team is right now. And make no mistake about it, this free agent class is full of veteran mediocrity.